HGTV’S ‘Santa HQ’ Experience Expands to Five New Macerich Mall Locations This Season

November 1, 2016

NEW YORK [For Immediate Release – November 1, 2016] HGTV’s popular interactive “Santa HQ” holiday experience—which revolutionized the traditional Santa Claus visit for families since 2014—will expand to five new Macerich mall properties this season, including centers in California, Chicago and metro New York. The new activations are in addition to ten established sites in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington, D.C. Santa HQ will welcome guests seven days a week beginning Wednesday, November 2, through Saturday, December 24 (closed Thanksgiving Day).

Connecting the HGTV brand with millions of targeted consumers in markets across the country, Santa HQ thrills guests of all ages with a 21st century immersive journey that features state-of-the-art digital technology. In addition to the classic photo with Santa Claus, mall guests can take an Elfie selfie to star in their own holiday video, use Elf-Ray Vision to explore Santa’s Observatory, test out the Naughty or Nice O’Meter and be dazzled by a synchronized light show featuring over 10,000 individual lights orchestrated to the tune of Carol of the Bells.

On Saturday, December 10, fans can get autographs and take photos with HGTV and DIY Network stars, including Drew and Jonathan Scott (Property Brothers) at The Oaks in Thousand Oaks, California and Alison Victoria (Kitchen Crashers) at Fashion Outlets of Chicago in Rosemont.

“With the addition of five new locations this year, Santa HQ will give thousands more HGTV fans the opportunity to be wowed by this one-of-a-kind Santa experience,” said Shannon Driver, senior vice president, marketing and creative services. “Our hope is that Santa HQ will continue to add even more wonder to the holiday season for children and their families.”

The unique attraction offers a powerful HGTV brand experience at each of the high-performing, market-dominant Macerich properties that host Santa HQ. “Our goal is to enhance our customers’ experience in every way possible. We are delighted to have a partner like HGTV that shares our passion about delivering exciting opportunities guests can’t find anywhere else,” said Petra Maruca, Vice President of Business Development, Macerich. “Visits and photos with Santa at the mall are a well-loved holiday tradition and we are delighted to bring the breakthrough Santa HQ experience to more communities this year.”

While visiting Santa HQ, guests can customize their individual experience by using augmented reality to view Santa’s Workshop and Observatory in a magical way. Visitors can download the Elf-Ray Vision app or use a provided tablet to discover the enchanting world of Santa HQ in stunning 2D and 3D digital scenes. Shoppers can continue their adventure with a custom photo opportunity and a visit with Santa inside his modernized sleigh as well as enter for the chance to win $10,000 in HGTV’s Spreading Holiday Cheer Sweepstakes.

Reservations to visit the experience can be made in advance at santa-hq.com/reserve. HGTV knows the holidays are a special time for the network’s audience, so fans are encouraged to share their Santa HQ experience on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram using #santahq and #loveHGTV.

The Santa HQ experience will be featured at the following 15 Macerich properties:

Santa HQ was conceived in collaboration with HGTV, Macerich and Pop2Life, a New York-based experiential marketing agency.

ABOUT HGTV HGTV delivers the superstar experts, fascinating families, compelling renovations and stunning transformations that make all things home fun. America’s favorite way to get entertaining, relatable and inspirational home and lifestyle content, HGTV offers: a top 10 cable network that is distributed to more than 92 million U.S. households; a website, HGTV.com, that attracts an average of nine million people each month; social media platforms that engage nearly nine million users; HGTV Magazine, a monthly publication that reaches more than one million readers and exclusive collections of home-oriented products through the HGTV HOME™ consumer products line. Viewers can become fans of HGTV and interact with other home improvement enthusiasts through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. Headquartered in Knoxville, Tenn., HGTV is owned by Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc., which also owns and operates Food Network, Travel Channel, DIY Network, Cooking Channel and Great American Country.

ABOUT MACERICHMacerich, an S&P 500 company, is a fully integrated self-managed and self-administered real estate investment trust, which focuses on the acquisition, leasing, management, development and redevelopment of regional malls throughout the United States. Macerich currently owns 55 million square feet of real estate consisting primarily of interests in 50 regional shopping centers. Macerich specializes in successful retail properties in many of the country’s most attractive, densely populated markets with significant presence in the California, Arizona, Chicago and the Metro New York to Washington, D.C. corridor. Additional information about Macerich can be obtained from the Company's website: www.macerich.com.

ABOUT POP2LIFEPop2Life is an award-winning experiential marketing and music agency that specializes in branded entertainment, social experiences, and unique promotions that go beyond. The company was founded in 2003 by former VP of Marketing & Promotion at RCA Records, Eric Murphy, who played a vital role in launching the careers of notable artists and bands including *NSYNC, Dave Matthews Band and Christina Aguilera. P2L works with some of the biggest media + entertainment brands in the world, including Scripps Networks (HGTV, Food Network, Travel Channel), Macerich, Clear Channel Media + Entertainment, AMC Networks + SundanceTV, Comedy Central, DreamWorks, NFL, and Nickelodeon. In 2014, music mogul Irving Azoff acquired 50% of Pop2Life as part of a joint venture he created with Madison Square Garden Entertainment.HGTV’s Spreading Holiday Cheer Sweepstakes: NO PURCHASE Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and D.C., age 18 or older (or legal age of majority under applicable law, whichever is older). Void where prohibited. Odds of winning depend on total number of entries received. Limit one entry per eligible person during the Promotion Period, regardless of method of entry. Sweepstakes starts at 12:01 a.m. PT on Monday, November 14, 2016, and ends at 11:59 p.m. PT on Saturday, December 24, 2016. For full official rules, visit www.hgtv.com/santahq or www.mallsweepstakes.com. Sponsored by Macerich Management Company, 401 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 700, Santa Monica, California 90401.###